San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich won his second NBA Coach of the Year award yesterday thanks in large part to his winning philosophy, steady guidance, ability to get almost any player to mesh into the Spurs’ system seamlessly, and get the best out of his players. All of which led to the Spurs having one of the best records in the NBA this season.

He is also much more than a coach. He is a mentor and a guiding force for the Spurs. Much like Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi according to Spurs’ Stephen Jackson when he was talking about the Spurs’ winning ways.

“One thing you’ve always known about the Spurs: They’re going to play the same way, and get it done the same way,” Spurs forward Stephen Jackson said. “It’s a team that doesn’t get rattled, keeps their composure and has Obi-Wan as a coach.”

A pretty nice comparison especially when Pop lets his beard grow out. But like Obi-Wan, Pop is the one who has groomed players into becoming great NBA players such as Tony Parker, always thinking first before acting especially when looking for talent when other GMs might gloss over a player, and just sticks to what works and tries nothing fancy much like Obi-Wan does in battle.

However, does this make Larry Brown Qui-Gon Jin (Kenobi’s mentor)? And what about former Spur Avery Johnson? Can we call him Anakin Skywalker for joining the “evil” Dallas Mavericks as head coach once his time in San Antonio was over?